Ravananugraha or Ravananugraha-murti ("form showing favour to Ravana"[1]) is a benevolent aspect of the Hindu god Shiva, depicted seated on his abode Mount Kailash with his consort Parvati, while the rakshasa-king (demon-king) Ravana of Lanka tries to shake it. The depiction is labelled variously as Ravana Lifting Mount Kailash or Ravana Shaking Mount Kailash. According to Hindu scriptures, Ravana once tried to lift Mount Kailash, but Shiva pushed the mountain into place and trapped Ravana beneath it. For a thousand years, the imprisoned Ravana sang hymns in praise of Shiva, who finally blessed him and granted him an invincible sword or a powerful linga (Shiva's aniconic symbol) to worship.
The Uttara Kanda of the Hindu epic Ramayana records: the ten-headed, twenty-armed mighty King Ravana defeated and looted Alaka – the city of his step-brother and god of wealth Kubera, situated near Mount Kailash. After the victory, Ravana was returning to Lanka in the Pushpaka Vimana (the flying chariot stolen from Kubera), when he spotted a beautiful place. However, the chariot could not fly over it. Ravana met Shiva's bull-faced dwarf attendant Nandi (Nandisha, Nandikeshvara) at this place and asked the reason behind his chariot's inability to pass over the place. Nandi informed Ravana that his lord Shiva and Parvati were enjoying dalliance on the mountain and no one was allowed to pass. Ravana mocked Shiva and Nandi. Enraged by the insult to his lord, Nandi cursed Ravana that monkeys would destroy him. In turn, Ravana decided to uproot the mountain Kailash, infuriated by Nandi's curse and his inability to proceed further. He put all his twenty arms under Kailash and started lifting it. As Kailash began to shake, a terrified Parvati embraced Shiva. However, the omniscient Shiva realized that Ravana was behind the menace and pressed the mountain into place with his big toe, trapping Ravana beneath it. Ravana gave a loud cry in pain. Advised by his ministers, Ravana sang hymns in praise of Shiva for a thousand years. Finally, Shiva not only forgave Ravana but also granted him an invincible sword. Since Ravana cried, he was given the name "Ravana" – one who cried.
The Tamil version of the legend narrates that imprisoned under Kailash, Ravana cut off one of his heads and built a veena from it. He used his tendons for the strings and began singing praises of Shiva. The pleased Shiva bestowed a powerful linga, his symbol, to be worshipped by Ravana at Lanka, but with the condition that wherever the linga was placed on earth, it would stay there for eternity. Aided by Shiva's son Ganesha, the gods devised a plan and tricked Ravana to hand the linga to Ganesha, who immediately placed it on the ground. Temples at Gokarna as well as Kumbharagadhi in Balasore district, claim to house this powerful linga
Shiva and Parvati are depicted seated on Mount Kailash in the upper portion of the portrayal, while Ravana, lifting the mount is portrayed in the lower register.
In the upper register, the central figures are the four-armed Shiva and to his left hand side, Parvati, who clings to her husband with her two arms flung around him. Shiva is calm, comforting his terrified consort, embracing her with one or two arms.Shiva wears a jata-mukuta (a headdress formed of piled, matted hair), while Parvati's hair is arranged in a bun. In an upper arm, Shiva holds a trishula (trident) and his lower right arm makes the abhayamudra (fear-not gesture). The couple may be seated on a lotus pedestal or rest their feet on it. In some cases, Parvati is seated on Shiva's left lap. Sometimes, he may cuddle her breast or touch her chin lovingly.
The mountain may be pictured variously as a simple piles of rocks or even as a simple platform to an elaborate multi-tiered structure. In the latter depiction, various levels show Kailash's various inhabitants including divinities, attendants, sages and animals, while Shiva and Parvati are perched on the top of the mountain. Even otherwise, male attendants of Shiva and female ones of Parvati as well as Shiva's dwarfish follower ganas may be depicted surrounding the divine couple on Kailash. Other flying divinities may also be pictured with them, praising Shiva and Parvati. Noteworthy portrayals include the couple's two sons – the elephant headed god of wisdom Ganesha and Kartikeya, the god of war; Shiva's vahana – the bull Nandi and Parvati's lion. In some cases, animals and attendants run away, frightened by the trembling mountain. In some cases, the inhabitants attack Ravana with arms and boulders.
Ravana is depicted as a strongly built man lifting the mountain with all his might. Ravana is generally depicted ten-headed; however, he may be depicted with fewer heads or just a single head. A donkey's head may be also depicted as his tenth head. His expression may show frustration or pain. Ravana is pictured as multi-armed; however, the number of arms is not fixed and extends up to twenty arms. Generally, his rear or upper arms hold up the mountain, while the lower ones may rest on ground or his knee for support, or may carry weapons in them. He sometimes holds a large sword, alluding to the divine sword granted by Shiva. Other weapons include a shield, a bow, an arrow and a thunderbolt. Ravana may be crouching or kneeling.
Ravana was the demon king of Lanka. The son of sage Vishravas and the demon princess Kaikesi, he performed great penances to become the master of the three worlds. While he gained his kingdom and strength by meditating on the creator, Lord Brahma, he later went on to become one of the greatest devotees of Lord Shiva.
Ravana’s mother used to pray to Lord Shiva everyday by making a Shiva lingam with sand. Day after day, the sea would swallow up the sand lingam, and she would make a new one the next day. Once, she mentioned to Ravana that she wished she had a special lingam that she could pray to every day, without having to make another one every single day.
Ravana decided to get a special lingam for his mother, from lord Shiva himself. He undertook severe penance to get the lingam from Shiva. Time passed and Shiva showed no sign of appearing. Ravana decided that he must adopt more severe methods to succeed. He began cutting off his ten heads one by one, and offering them to the sacrificial fire. He had cut off nine of his ten heads, and was about to chop off the last one, when Shiva appeared at last!
Ravana decided to get a special lingam for his mother, from lord Shiva himself. He undertook severe penance to get the lingam from Shiva. Time passed and Shiva showed no sign of appearing. Ravana decided that he must adopt more severe methods to succeed. He began cutting off his ten heads one by one, and offering them to the sacrificial fire. He had cut off nine of his ten heads, and was about to chop off the last one, when Shiva appeared at last!
Shiva was pleased with Ravana’s dedication and presented him with a special lingam. He said, “This lingam comes from Kailas, my abode. Take care of it, for it is special. Place it on the ground only where you want it, for once placed on the ground, it cannot be moved. Remember this and take it back carefully.”Ravana was thrilled, and started on his long journey home.
Meanwhile, the gods were worried. Ravana was already dangerous, but installing the lingam at Lanka would make him invincible. They planned to take the lingam away from him, but none were brave enough to tackle Ravana. At last, they asked Ganesha for help. Ganesha agreed that the lingam should be kept away from Lanka at any cost, and set off to do the job himself. He transformed himself into a young Brahmin boy and followed Ravana.
Ravana had barely covered half the distance to Lanka when the sun started setting. It was time for him to perform his evening ablutions, something he never missed. However, he couldn’t possibly perform the ablutions holding the lingam in his hand. He couldn’t place the lingam on the ground either, for then it would settle there. As he looked around, hoping for a solution to his problem, his eyes fell on the young Brahmin in the distance.
Smiling at his good fortune, Ravana called out to the little boy, who came running. Ravana told him that he wanted to perform his ablutions and then asked him to hold the lingam for a short while so that he could refresh himself in the nearby river. The boy looked at the lingam and said, “This lingam looks terribly heavy. I don’t think I can hold it for so long.” Ravana was getting more and more anxious as the sun moved lower and lower over the horizon. He assured the boy that the lingam was not too heavy, and that he would hurry back. The little boy reluctantly took the lingam, and groaned, as if the lingam was too heavy. “It’s all right for you to say that it’s not heavy” said the boy. “You are so big that it might feel light to you. It is too heavy for me to hold. I will hold it for as long as I can. I will then call out to you thrice. If you don’t come by the third time, I will keep it down.”
Ravana pleaded with the child not to keep the lingam down at any cost, and rushed to the river. The little boy waited till Ravana was knee deep in water, before calling out, “The lingam is getting too heavy. Come soon!” Ravana hurried through his prayers, but before he could finish, the boy called out a second time. He now positively raced through the rest of his prayers and hurried back, but the boy called out a third time, and just as Ravana was approaching, placed the lingam on the ground!
With a mumbled curse, Ravana rushed and tried to pull the lingam out. However, it seemed to have grown roots instantly, and refused to budge. Under the full force of Ravana’s strength, the lingam twisted, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t pull it out.
The full force of Ravana’s anger was now directed on the child. “How dare you keep the lingam down!” he cried, and with his fist, hit the boy on the head! Suddenly, in place of the child, there stood Ganesha. Ravana at once understood that this was all the doing of the gods, and hit himself on his head with his knuckles.
There are two places in India associated with this event.
The first one is Gokarna. Here, the Mahabaleshwara temple on the shore of the Arabian sea is believed to be where this event took place. The main lingam here is called Mahabaleshwara – the strong one, for it could not be pulled out of the ground. The top portion of this lingam is twisted, in keeping with the story. Besides, there is also an idol of Ganesha in this temple, which, unlike other idols, is in standing posture. Also, interestingly, in accordance with the story, the head of Ganesha has small depression where Ravana is believed to have hit him. Also, his feet are a little under the ground, as if pushed in by the force of the blow!
Gokarna - Pilgrimage and Pleasure
Gokarna - The Five Lingams
Six Ganesha Temples along the Karnataka Coast
The second temple related to this story is at Baijnath, in Bihar.
Apart from these two, there is a third temple with a similar story. The protagonist here is Vibhishana, Ravana's brother, who is prevented from taking an idol of Ranganatha (Lord Vishnu) back to Lanka, by Ganesha. While that of course is a story of Lord Vishnu, and relates to the temple of Ranganatha at Srirangam, the role of Ganesha remains the same, and he is believed to have been hit on the head. He is believed to be on the hilltop at Tiruchi at the Ucchi Pillayar Temple in that same form!
src : http://anustoriesforchildren.blogspot.sg/2011/03/when-ravana-lifted-kailash.html,Wikipedia
There are two places in India associated with this event.
The first one is Gokarna. Here, the Mahabaleshwara temple on the shore of the Arabian sea is believed to be where this event took place. The main lingam here is called Mahabaleshwara – the strong one, for it could not be pulled out of the ground. The top portion of this lingam is twisted, in keeping with the story. Besides, there is also an idol of Ganesha in this temple, which, unlike other idols, is in standing posture. Also, interestingly, in accordance with the story, the head of Ganesha has small depression where Ravana is believed to have hit him. Also, his feet are a little under the ground, as if pushed in by the force of the blow!
Gokarna - Pilgrimage and Pleasure
Gokarna - The Five Lingams
Six Ganesha Temples along the Karnataka Coast
The second temple related to this story is at Baijnath, in Bihar.
Apart from these two, there is a third temple with a similar story. The protagonist here is Vibhishana, Ravana's brother, who is prevented from taking an idol of Ranganatha (Lord Vishnu) back to Lanka, by Ganesha. While that of course is a story of Lord Vishnu, and relates to the temple of Ranganatha at Srirangam, the role of Ganesha remains the same, and he is believed to have been hit on the head. He is believed to be on the hilltop at Tiruchi at the Ucchi Pillayar Temple in that same form!
src : http://anustoriesforchildren.blogspot.sg/2011/03/when-ravana-lifted-kailash.html,Wikipedia
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